Oriole Resources Regulatory News (ORR)

14 Apr 2008 09:30

Stratex International PLC14 April 2008 Stratex International Plc / Index: AIM / Epic: STI / Sector: Mining 14 April 2008 Stratex International Plc LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS Stratex International Plc, ("Stratex" or "the Company") the AIM-quotedinternational exploration and development company focusing on gold and basemetal opportunities in Turkey, has today posted a letter to shareholders fromExecutive Chairman David J. Hall, giving a sector and Company update. The fulltext of the letter is reproduced below and a further copy is available on theCompany's website at www.stratexinternational.com . Dear Shareholder, The last few weeks have obviously been a testing time for investors. Financialmarkets in turmoil; USA in recession leading to fears of fall in demand forcommodities; gold a safe haven yet retreats from + $1000 down to $930. Where isit all going and most importantly where does it leave Stratex? In a broad sense mining and the mine-finding activities of exploration are arelatively long-term business. The continued merger and acquisition activity bymajor companies shows faith in the long-term demand and hence higher levels ofmetal prices. What about an America in recession? Well Tom Albanese, CEO of RioTinto, stated in January that a recession in America would have limited impacton China (and Brazil, Russia and India for that matter), countries that havedriven demand for metals for the past five years. This view was also stronglyendorsed by Norman Keevil, Chairman of Teck Cominco, our strategic partner inTurkey, at a luncheon speech at the late-January Round Up conference inVancouver. Indeed The Economist of March 22nd commented that, although theeconomic outlook for America is grim, most analysts assume that emerging marketswill continue to grow relatively strongly. Meanwhile global copper inventoriesamount to only two weeks demand and lead stocks are closer to one week's worth. Even with current falls in commodity prices they are still at levels that wehave not seen for some considerable time. So should you be worried about Stratexand the wider resource sector? In our view, not in the least. Supply is fallingin most metals and gold will continue to be a safe haven in these troubledfinancial times. The critical need for discovery of new quality resources willcontinue and most importantly will be ongoing no matter what the commodityprices are as the mining companies must continually fill their pipeline.Commodities are not a bubble that bursts like dot.coms but a basic lynchpin ofsociety. Stratex is an Exploration and Development company with gold resources in hand, aportfolio of new discoveries, and quality exploration ground that continues toyield new finds. We have just returned from a technical trip to the MaricungaDistrict in Chile with Dr. Richard Sillitoe who recently made the comparison ofour Konya project area with this world-class gold-copper district in its earlydays circa 1980. Our trip involved visits to La Coipa - a 3 million ounce golddeposit with 189 million ounces of silver, El Penon - a 5 million ounce golddeposit, and Marte - a porphyry gold look-alike for our targets at Doganbey andKaracaoren. Cerro Casale, one of the largest unexploited gold deposits in theworld with some 25 million ounces of gold, confirmed the close association ofhigh-level alteration that we see in Konya and elsewhere with porphyrygold-copper mineralisation Discovery is not simple and there is no easy formula. Take El Penon for example- the first visit to the area was by FMC Gold in 1992 when they sampled a nearbylithocap and got poor results. Later that same year they returned and expandedtheir investigation to include El Penon some 5 kilometres from the originalsample site. Critical geological features were recognised and 16 rock chipsamples taken with a best value of 1 g/t Au. Notwithstanding the less thanimpressive results, the presence of geological features analogous to importantgold systems in Nevada encouraged a further visit. In early 1993, additionalsampling gave a maximum value of 3.5 g/t Au and recognition of quartz veinfragments over 1,500 metres strike. FMC Gold acquired the ground and in late1993 undertook detailed mapping and sampling leading to an initial drillprogramme. The first hole hit 1.2 g/t Au over 52 metres with 6 out of 13 holesshowing encouragement. Yet it was the 14th hole that made the discovery - 100metres grading 10.9 g/t Au and 123.4 g/t Ag..........and the rest, as they say,is history. This story emphasises that a critical understanding of the setting, controls,and geological features of these large deposits is vital for all economicexploration geologists and yet so few have the necessary experience to deliverthose key discoveries. Hence, your Company's visit to these major mines andadvanced prospects in the Maricunga district was undertaken as a strategicallyimportant investment in its technical team to improve our chances of discoveringsuch large "company-maker" deposits in Turkey. Geologically the country isextremely well-endowed and we are ensuring that you as a shareholder areinvesting in the best possible technical expertise and practical capabilities todeliver. Stratex has of course already been successful in discovering new goldmineralisation and developing the discoveries to the resource level at Inlice.We recognised the upside potential at Altintepe and have been successful indefining and drilling new areas of gold mineralisation there. The excitingpotential of Konya has also been appreciated at an early stage by Teck Comincoand exploration and discovery is moving apace, with the new Karacaoren porphyryprospect already added to the discovery portfolio of Inlice and Doganbey. Your Company's early recognition of the important gold potential of the Miocenevolcanic belts in Turkey has also been critical to our exploration strategiesand has evolved considerably, especially through our observations anddiscussions on the Maricunga trip. The recent acquisition of the key auctionproperty at Oksut consolidates yet another new area with early-stage potential.It is essential to remember that exploration in the Maricunga has been ongoingover some 26 years, prior to which there was no known gold mineralisation - andyet geological models have allowed continuing discovery. The level ofexploration in Turkey is considerably less than that of Chile and I may add somefour times cheaper. It is the considered view subsequent to the technical trip in Chile that thepotential for major discovery in Turkey is extremely high. You can be assuredthat your Company is at the forefront of the search for that discovery! So I hope that, in stepping back and taking a deep breath after recent weeks ofturmoil, you are as excited and encouraged as everyone at Stratex is for thetimes ahead. Thank you for your continuing support. David J. Hall Executive Chairman. * * ENDS * * For further information visit www.stratexinternational.com or contact: David Hall Stratex International Plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7830 9650 Bob Foster Stratex International Plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7830 9650 Claire Palmer Stratex- Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0)20 7830 9650 Anita Ghanekar Hanson Westhouse Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7601 6100 Victoria Thomas St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 Notes to editors: Stratex's portfolio covers 11 licence blocks in central and western Turkeytotalling approximately 1,630 sq km. These include the Inlice high-sulphidationgold deposit in the Konya Volcanic Belt, the Altintepe multi-occurrence prospectcomprising a number of discrete gold-bearing zones, Doganbey - a new porphyrygold-molybdenum target within the Konya Volcanic Belt, Muratdere - a porphyrygold-copper-molybdenum occurrence and Karaagac - a partially exposed, gentlydipping gold-bearing zone. Ongoing resource drilling and exploration programmesare underway on a number of these licences, focused on increasing Stratex'stotal resources, currently standing at slightly more than 841,000 oz of gold.Furthermore, the Company has a healthy project pipeline portfolio, which itcontinues to strengthen through the acquisition of additional licences. Stratex has a strategic partnership with Canadian major mining company, TeckCominco Limited, which has an 8.8% stake in the Company, enabling the twoparties to pool expertise, skills and databases to identify potential projects. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange